Railroad car body



Nov. 12, 1968 J. a. summers 3,410,227

RAILROAD CAR BODY Original Filed Aug. :51, 1965 8 sheet-sneet 1 gINVENTOR JACK E. GUTRIDGE Nov. 12, 1968 J. E. GUTRIDGE RAILROAD CAR BODY8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Aug. 31, 1965 INVENTOR JACK E. GUTR/DGER! 8; im QM v 0 u w mu mz m2 mm 9 vo. f 1!. 2 SE .19 ow No. No 2 o. 2?vs 2 mm mm EN NN o ow o o. 5 o om. I I. A ufi m N t NE 2% 3: 11 .9 8 .11maoow T m w wN m On Q h u L F. \L

Nov. 12, 1968 J. E. summer:

RAILROAD CAR BODY 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Aug. 51, 1965 INVENTORJACK E. GU TRIDGE I 1? wm w M 3 0% QN m 4 v 8 1 mm. 2 0 mm 8 E 9 BE i pS. 8 J. N O imM V/T 1 2 v mm 2 9 ATT'Y J. E. GUTRIDGE RAILROAD CAR BODYNov. 12, 1963 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Aug. 31, 1965 IOI INVENTORJACK E. GUTR/DGE ATT'Y Nov. 12, 1968 J. E. GUTRIDGE 3,410,227

RAILROAD CAR BODY Original Filed Aug. 31, 1965 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORJACK E. GUTRIDGE BY W (9% ATT'Y Nov. 12, 1968 J. E. GUTRIDGE 3,410,227

RAILROAD CAR BODY Original Filed Aug. 51. 1965 a Sheets-Sheet s INVENTORJACK E. GUTRIDGE ATT'Y United States Patent 3,410,227 RAILRDAD CAR BODYJack E. Gntridge, Dyer, Ind., assignor to Pullman Incorporated, Chicago,111., a corporation of Delaware Continuation of application Ser. No.498,730, Oct. 20, 1965, which is a division of application Ser. No.484,059, Aug. 31, 1965, now Patent No. 3,319,583, dated May 16, 1967.This application June 6, 1967, Ser. No. 653,286 17 Claims. (Cl. 105-366)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A railway car having an underframe havingcenter sills and ribbon sills extending between and connected with thecenter sills at the bolsters and a railroad car body including a pair ofside walls connecting with and guiding and stabilizing the ribbon sills,and container securing means securing containers to the side walls,wherein the containers, the side walls and the ribbon sills co-operatetogether to define a structure which will withstand the buff and draftforces transmitted to the center sills, the side walls defining with endwalls of the car, a lading holding well that extends above and below thecoupler draft force lines of the car.

This application is a continuation of my co-pending application S.N.498,730 filed Oct. 20, 1965, now abandoned, which is a division ofapplication S.N. 484,059 filed Aug. 31, 1965, now Patent No. 3,319,583.

Description This invention relates to an improved railroad car and inparticular relates to a car having a car body mounted upon a bodysupporting and force transmitting means for longitudinal movement withrespect to said means whereby the car body has its ends mounted over thebolster supports and its central portion disposed over the forcetransmitting means.

A prime object of this invention is to provide a railroad car that has ahigh lading carrying capacity and yet has its top portion sufiicientlylow and within the proper tolerances to clear overhead bridges, tunnelsand the like.

A further object of this invention is to provide a railroad car that isof high container lading carrying capacity in that the car can carry sixcontainers instead of four, resulting in fifty percent increase incarrying capacity by providing for a car well portion extending betweenand below the car bolsters and whereby force transmitting elements areintercoupled with and guided relative to the car well portion andconnect with the bolsters and wherein cushioning means is providedbetween the car couplers and the car body for absorbing the shock ofimpact of draft forces.

Another object of this invention is to provide for a car constructionwhere the car bolsters. slidably support the ends of the car body andwhereby a pair of side flexible ribbon elements connect with thebolsters and lie in the plane of the car coupler assembly, the centralportion of the car body having guide means in the line of said forcesembracing and stabilizing the side ribbon elements for longitudinalmovement of the bolsters relative to the body.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved railroad carwherein the car body has an open 3,410,227 Patented Nov. 12, 1968 ICCtop and bottom and carries container means having container tie holdingmeans holding the containers to the body for lateral reinforcement ofthe car body by the containers.

Another object of this invention is to provide for a railroad car havinga lightweight body construction carried by the bolsters and having sideribbon elements whereby the containers in the body give the body lateralstability and strength and the ribbon elements are contained by thebody.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel draft sillconstruction for a railroad car wherein the draft sill is provided witha body supporting bolster and an outrigger and diagonal forcetransmitting members that connect between the central draft sill portionand outrigger which are connected to and vertically and laterallysupport the side ribbon elements to allow the buff forces to betransmitted simultaneously to the bolsters and through the forcetransmitting members to the flexible side ribbon members.

Another object of this invention is to provide a car body constructionhaving a central well portion that extends below the line of draftforces and elevated car body end sections separated from the centralportion by bulkheads whereby the top of the car body is open to receivecontainers and the central well portion and the end sections beingseparate compartments and the central well compartments being able tohold one container or several containers in end-to-end relation and invertically stacked relation.

It is another object of this invention to provide for a railroad carhaving aipair of end bolsters interconnected by a pair of side ribbonmembers, and a car body slidably mounted on the bolsters and having acentral depressed car body portion or well having cushioning meansconnecting with the bolsters lying generally in the plane of the ribbonsill and the plane of draft and between the car body well in a confinedtolerance limited area, the cushioning means having a limited extensionto provide for travel of the car body relative to the car bolsters forincreased body length.

Another object of this invention is to provide for a railroad car havinga car body-with its end sections mounted over the bolsters and having acentral depressed car body portion or well, the lower end of which hasguide means slidably connected with side compression and tension ribbonmembers connecting with the bolsters, and cushioning means connectingbetween the car body well and the bolster portion of the draft sill inthe plane of the ribbon sill and the draft forces imparted to the car.

Still another object of this invention is to provide for a car undercarriage or beam network comprising a pair of end draft sills withbolsters and outriggers and a pair of flexible side members connectingwith the outriggers and having diagonal tie means extending from thecenter of draft sill to the flexible members to define a path for thedraft forces from the draft sills to the bolsters and from the diagonaltie means to the flexible members.

It is another object of this invention to provide for a railroad carhaving a car body slidably mounted on a car body support means withguide means intercoupling the support means with the car body generallyin the plane of the draft forces, and container means disposed withinsaid car body and the body having container indexing means and containerhold down or tie means connecting the body with the containers toprovide a rigiditying reinforcing car body structure between thebolsters.

A further object is to provide a novel cushioning unit for a railroadcar between the car body and the car underfrarne which contracts in onedirection and expands in the other direction to allow for dimensionaltolerances between the car body and the car underframe resulting ingreater lading storage space for the car body and still meet theclearance requirements for the railroad industry.

These and other objects will become apparent from references to thefollowing disclosure including the description, appended claims andattached drawings where- FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the railway carincluding containers shown in phantom line;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view in side elevation of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a view of the invention taken along line FIG. 6 is a sectionalview taken along line 66 of FIGURE FIG. 7 is a sectional view takenalong line 7-7 of FIGURE 5;

FIG. 8 is a partial transverse section taken at the bolster of theinvention;

FIG. 9 is a partial transverse sectional view taken at a car bodyupright post;

FIG. 10 is a view taken along line 10-10 of FIG- URE l;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the lower portion of FIGURE 10;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line 12-12 of FIGURE 2;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged partial view of the container holding means shownin FIGURE 12;

FIG. 14 is a container holding and indexing means shown in FIGURE 12;

FIG. 15 is a side elevational view of the cushioning means of myinvention;

FIG. 16 is a sectional plan view of the cushioning means;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of the draft sill and draft gear of my invention;

FIG. 18 is a sectional perspective view of the draft gear, and draftsill of my novel invention;

FIGS. 19, 20 and 21 are cross-sectional views of the novel cushioningdevice in various positions and showing the hydraulic cushioningstructure therefor; and

FIG. 22 is an exploded view illustrating the various components of thenovel cushioning device.

With reference now to the drawings, there is shown a railroad car 2 thatis provided with a body support means or carriage 4 upon which isslidably mounted a body or superstructure 6. A buff or shock absorbingmeans in the form of a cushioning unit 8 is connected between the body 6and the support means or under carriage beam network 4 toward one end ofthe car and toward the other end of the car 2, a return spring 8a isconnected between the body 6 and the carriage or support structure 4. Itis to be appreciated that the cushion unit 8 may be replaced by a spring8a or the spring 8a may be replaced by a cushioning unit 8 so long asthere is provided resilient means for absorbing the shocks transmittedfrom the support structure 4 to the body 6 and whereby re- 4 silientmeans will return the body 6 to its proper or predetermined position onthe underframe 4.

The body 6 is normally centered on the underframe 4, the one-half of thecar being a mirror image of the other one-half of the car 2 about avertical plane extending through the central longitudinal axis x-x ofthe railroad car. Similarly, the car is bi-laterally symmetrical withrespect to the central transverse axis yy of the car. Since the carpresents bi-lateral symmetry along its xx axis or y-y axis, similarreference characteristics are applied to similar parts on the opposedsides of the planes passing through these axes.

The carriage 4 generally comprises a pair of opposed draft sills 10, 10at opposite ends of the car and along the longitudinal axis xx. Beneathand at the end of each sill 10 is disposed a truck 12 of four-wheel sets12a. the body support bolsters 14, 14 are connected to and disposed overthe trucks 12 and are welded to the draft sills 1t), 10. Each bolster 14is connected with the other by a pair of laterally disposedlongitudinally extending flexible side ribbon force transmitting members16, 16 and between each bolster and the respective end of the car is anoutrigger or cross member 14a integrated with the respective draft sill10 and connected to diagonal and longitudinal members 16, 72. The bodyor superstructure 6 comprises a beam network body framework 18 mountedover the bolsters 14, 14 for reciprocable longitudinal movement withrespect thereto. The body framework 18 is composed of laterally opposedsidewalls 20, 29 longitudinally opposed end walls 22, 22 and a bottommea 24 having a central well area 24a and end bottom area 24b, 2412. Itis, therefore, seen that the framework 18 has a central portion 26defining a well 28 extending below the line of car draft DD and a pairof elevated end sections 30, 30, the bottom of which lie generally abovethe line of draft D-D (see FIG. 2). At the central portion 26, eachsidewall section 20 is provided with a bottom body beam structure 32which is provided with a guide means 34 (FIG. 9) to reciprocably receivetherethrough a respective side beam 16. The outer laterally opposed endsof each bolster are each provided with a pair of rollers 36, 36 overwhich the skeletal sidewall sections 38, 38 of each skeletal sidewall20, 20 slidably roll over the rollers 36. Container means are disposedwithin the body 6 generally over the car bottom area, the containermeans comprising two long container units 40 (FIG. 1) disposed withinthe well 28, one unit 40 being on top of another unit-40 and one shortercontainer 42 being stored within each elevated end section 30; or fourshort containers 42 may be disposed within the well 28 instead of twolong containers 40, as shown in FIG. 2. The container means are guidedinto the car body and tied thereto by indexing and tie down or holdingmeans to be described later.

The car carriage 4 is provided with a pair of couplers at the outer endsof each of the draft sills 10. Each draft sill 10 is of conventional Zsection construction and comprises a pair of longitudinally extendingupright side plates 52 that oppose one another, each angle plate 52having a long leg 52a and a short leg 52a, a top portion 54. Eachstabilizing cross member or outrigger 14a (see FIG. 7) comprises a top56 that is welded on top of the draft sill and extends transversely ofthe draft sill 10, and includes a horizontal portion 56a and twodiagonal portions 56b; a cross member bottom plate 58 having ahorizontal section 58a welded to the short legs 52b of the draft sill,and laterally extending diagonal sections 58b; and a pair of crossmember triangularly shaped web sections 60 recessed within the top andbottom plates 56, 58. The bolster 14 (see FIG. 6) which is disposedinwardly of the outrigging support 14a at the inward terminal portion ofthe draft sill 10 comprises a bolster flat top plate or cover plate 62and a bolster bottom cover plate 64 which is of a fish belly design andhas a flat horizontal plate section 64a welded to the draft sill legsections 52a, 52a, 52b opposed diagonal plate sections 64b, and outerlateral and horizontal plate sections 64c, and two opposed laterallyextending web sections 68 recessed within the top and bottom plates 62,64 having a fish belly contour with inner diagonal form and outerrectangular form merged with one another in conventional bolsterconstruction, the legs 52a, 52b, 52b of the drafts sill and the top 54being welded to the outer of the two bolster Webs 68. Longitudinallyextending, laterally disposed cover end plates 69 are retained withinand at the outer ends of the bolster 14 for receiving roller shafts 70carrying the rollers 36. The bolster bottom plate 64a has a center platewhich is pivotally connected to the bolster of the trucks 12. A pair ofrectangularly shaped tie members or force transmitting members 72 areattached to support blocks 76 (see FIGS. 7 and 17) mounted on each draftsill side plate 52 and extend diagonally outwardly and forwardly wherethey are attached to a respective outer end of the cross member 14a andto a respective ribbon member 16. Trunnion members 78 are located on therespective inner side 'or fish belly shaped web 68a of a respectivebolster 14 for pivotal attachment with a respective eye couple of acushioning unit 8 or a return spring unit 8a which in turn is pivotallyconnected to a car body 6 which is reciprocably mounted on theunderframe 4 for longitudinal movement with respect thereto.

The coupler 50 is pivotally connected by pivot pin 80 (FIG. 7) to theU-shaped member or draft yoke 82 which is connected to the draft gearelement 84 having a reduced outer end section 86 engageable withtransverse plate 88 having gussets 9t), and element 84 having outer endportions 91 engageable with plate 88 and inner end portions 92 by stopblocks 94 of draft sill 19 in the conventional manner. The stop blocks94 are mounted on the draft sill transverse support beam 96, the inwardside of which is supported by draft sill upper end lower gussets 98 andheavy reinforcing gusset 98a, the gusset 98a being horizontally andvertically aligned With outer tie beam support blocks 76 carrying tiebeams or force transmitting members 72, the members 72, 76 and 98ahaving their center lines on the line of draft D-D. The travel of thedraft is limited between plate 8-8 and blocks 92 as is conventional. Theouter end of the draft sill has its two section plates 52 flaredoutwardly to permit angular movement of the couple 50. It is thus seenthat draft forces or buff forces transmitted to the couple 5t) and draftgear element 84 are transmitted by way of two paths, into the car underframe 4, one to the side ribbon sills 16 by way of members 94, 96-, 87and 72, the other to the cushion unit 8 as return spring unit 8a by wayof draft sill portions 52 and 54 and the bolster 14. The cross member14a gives lateral stability to the beams or members 72 and 16.

As previously mentioned, the side and end Walls 21), 22 are symetricallydisposed with respect to the XX axis and the YY axis and, therefore,like components on opposite sides of vertical planes passing throughthese axis bear like reference characters. Now with reference to thedrawings and in particular with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 4a, 4b,8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, each side wall comprises a conventionalPratt light panel truss of bottom member 32 being beam 100, top chord orbeam 101, upright posts or beams 102, and diagonal tie tension beams104.

The end portion of each side wall 20 defining with each other the twoopposed elevated end wall sections 31 each comprising a rearwardlyupwardly diverging bottom sill section or I-beam member 106, a bottomI-beam member 108 is enlarged for strengthening over the bolster, and alongitudinally extending bottom rear end member or I-beam 110, the beams106, 108 and 110 being interconnected with one another to form thebottom outer side of the car body. A wearplate 108a (see FIG. 8),provided on the under side of the lower flange of each beam 108 forsliding engagement with each roller 36. The top outer side portions ofthe body at the elevated and sections 30 is provided with a horizontallongitudinally extending end beam section 112 (see FIG. 2) that is anextension of the top beam 101 and extends outwardly and to the end ofthe car body 6. In each elevated end section 30 each side wall sectionis provided with upright posts or I-beams 114, 116 and L-shaped end post118, the center section outer end beam post 102 jointly forming with theupright post 114, the top beam section 112 and the diagonal beam 166 atrapezoid lattice provided with a diagonal tie member or strut 120; theover bolster beam 108 with its upright posts 114 and 116 and top beamsection 112 forming a rectilinear lattice provided with a diagonal strutor tie member or beam 122; the most outward upright post 118 beingsimilarly interconnected with the top beam section 112 and with thelower end beam 110 with a diagonal strut 124 extending from the outerend of the lower beam 110 upwardly to the juncture of the post 116 withthe top beam section 112. Each of these beams are of I-heam or H-beamconstruction except L-shaped beam 118. Gusset plates 126 reinforce andinterconnect beams and 101 with the end upright posts 102 where the bodyelevated end sections 30 are joined with the central portion 26 havingthe well 28.

The two skeletal end walls 22 (see FIG. 10) each comprise a pair ofoutwardly diverging tie or truss members 128 of T-bar construction.These beams 128 at their lower end join with horizontal transverselyextending T-beam 130. The pair of upright end posts 116 of L- shape orangle shape construction connect with the diagonal T-bar beams 128, thetop rear I-beam section 112 and at their bottom with the transverseT-beam 136. Each end wall 22 further comprises a pair of downwardlydepending diagonal tie members 133 whose upper ends merge the outercorners of the car body with the horizontal transverse T-bar 131i and atthe lower inward ends are connected to vertical upward T-bar members 136depending on the horizontal T-bar member 130. Between each upright endT-section member 136, at each end is provided a horizontally extendingT-shape beam 138 and T-bar member 148 with diagonal ends 141. Wear platemeans 134 are provided between draft sill 10 and members 136, 138 and140.

The bottom or container horizontal support plane 24 of the car body 6 issubstantially open in the area of the well 26, but the floor well area24a is provided with container support means in the form of twocontainer end supports 176 at each end of the well 24a, each support 176being an angle beam 178, with a container seat plate 17%. At the center(center post 102) of the car, there is provided an additional transversecontainer support 180 comprising a pair of laterally opposedlongitudinally extending depending upright plates 181 and a transversehorizontal container reinforced seat structure 182. The floor 24 (seeFIG. 3) at each elevated end section 30 comprises a diagonaltransversely extending tie H-be-am 184 at the most rearward or outer endof the car body 6, connecting with beams and and inwardly disposedtransversely extending reinforcing H-beam 186 connected between beams110 to upright posts 116 and in parallel relation to the beam 188 thatis connected between beams 114 and forms a rectangular box design withbeams 108, the rectangular box design being reinforced by diagonal tiebeams 192, and lastly, there is provided transverse beam 1% connectedwith beams 194 that are diagonally sloping and connecting with the beams188 to define a sloping floor. Upright diagonal criss-crossing beams 194connect between posts 102 and fioor beam to define a dividing wallbetween each end section and the well to define 3 separate containercompartments (see FIG. 4). The outer floor diagonal beam 184 at its mostouter and provides a seat for the containers 42 in the elevated endsection 30 as does the seat plate 196 (see FIG. 3) at the outer lateralcorner at the end post 118.

Each ribbon element 16 is nestled between the lower channel or halfsection 34a (see FIG. 9) of the bottom beam 100 of body sill attached toupright beam 102 and channel member or strap 3412 that is welded tosection 34a of the bottom beam 100 to form the guide structure 34 forencasing and guiding the side ribbon members 16 of the carriage 4.

The car body 6 is provided with the plurality of container hold down andindexing members as shown particularly by FIGURES l, 2, 3, 4, 4a, 4b,10, 12, 13 and 14. With reference to FIGURES 2, 3, and 4 there is shownfour fixed well corners'container hold down unit 200 (see FIGS. 4 and4a) each having container locking pin 201 for tying down uppercontainers 42 in the well 24a (see FIG. 2) and located at the top of thecar body 6 at the juncture of the well with a respective end section.Facing inward toward the well, each container hold dow 200 is providedwith inwardly sloping multi-index surfaces 202 for guiding a container40 or 42 down into the well, and end sections there being four suchcontainer hold downs 200 for locating upper and lower containers withinthe well, inserting into the upper wall container 42 for tying samedown. The lower central body support 180 is provided with opposed indexguide members 204 (see FIGS.

12 and 13) with opposed indexing surfaces 205 each that may be pivotallyplaced in the in use position as shown in the right lower corner of FIG.12 by pivot means 205a and storage slot 205b or may be pivoted out ofposition as shown in the right lower corner of FIG 12, the indexingmember 204 being in use when it is desired to slide the smallercontainers 42 into the wall in side by side relation as shown in FIG. 2.

Directly above indexing members 204 and atop the car body is locatedindexing and tie down unit 206 (see FIGS. 12 and 14) pivotally mountedon beam 101 being provided with angled indexing surfaces 208 for guidingthe smaller containers 42 on either side of it andalso is provided withfour projections 210 which project from plate 212 for registering in thebottom of the top well container 42 and in the top of the bottom wellcontainer 42 as seen in FIGURES 2 and 14, the hold down and indexingmember being mounted on plate 214 and being pivoted out of use positionas shown in FIG. 12 (upper right hand corner) and into use position asshown in FIG. 12. Indexing members 216 (see FIGS. 4 and 4b) are alsodisposed atop each of the container support members 176 (see FIG. 4) atopposite ends of the top of the car body 4 (see FIG. 1 and at the cornertops of the end sections 30 for guiding of the containers into the carbody, Container seat means 218 (see FIG. 8) at inner end of end sections(see FIG. 2) and at right outer corner and (see FIG. are also providedfor container 42. Car body tie means 220 in the form of a Z-shaped plateis secured atop bolster 14 and disposed over lower flange of car bodybeam 108 adjacent wear plates 108a to limit vertical movement of thebody relative to the body support structure 4 (see FIG. 8).

With reference now particularly to FIGS. 1522, the cushioning unit 8 isattached between with the bolster 14 by bolster apertured trunnion 78,pin 222 and aperture cushioning end plate 224 and with the beam 190 ofthe body by body apertured trunnion 78b, pin 228 and aperture cushioningend plate 230. The cushioning unit 8 is constructed to expand orcontract up to a specific distance and this permits the well 28 to be ofgreater longitudinal extent with the cushioning unit being attached tothat part of the car body 26 that is outwardly of the car well 28.Heretofore, cushioning units have had a travel of certain distance ineither direction outwardly of the cushioning unit whereas thisparticular cushioning unit will travel or expand only a maximum ofspecified distance outwardly in one direction but will contract. Shoulda force be transmitted from the draft sill 10 at the end of the caropposite where the cushioning unit 8 is mounted, the force will transfersubstantially along the flexible ribbon element and the car body willtend to move relative to the bolsters 14.

This will cause the yoke member 246 to move outwardly or to the left asreviewed in FIG. 20, a specific distance, say 20 inches, expanding theover all length of the cushioning to a distance 20 inches in excess ofthat shown in FIG. 15 or 19, Le. as shown in FIG. 20. If, however, aforce is transmitted at that end of the draft sill 10 closest thecushioning unit, the butt force will be directed substantially from thedraft sill 10 directly into the cushioning unit 8 without going throughthe portion of side ribbon elements 16 inwardly of the bolsters 14 andthis will cause plate 230 to compress the cushioning unit with aresultant contraction of the cushioning unit of a specific length, say20 inches, less (see FIG. 21) than that shown in FIG. 15 which is thenormal extended position when no draft buff forces are being imposedupon the cushioning unit. It is, therefore, seen that this constructionof the cushioning unit requires less space and the well portion 28 ofthe body, therefore, may be of greater longitudinal extent. This type ofcushioning unit will also be applicable to a return spring constructionas that shown by the return spring unit 8a, the only difference beingthat the cushioning unit 8 is provided with a hydraulic cushioningarrangement as shown by U.S. Patent No. 3,003,436 and the return springunit 3a is not provided with such a hydraulic unit containing hydraulicfluid for absorbing shock loads but with a compressed spring 271. Thepurpose of the return spring is merely to re-center the body withrespect to the bolster 14 after impact but the cushioning unit 8 has theadditional function of absorbing the shock loads through a hydraulicmedium.

With reference now to the specific construction shown in FIGS 15 through20, the unit 8 (or unit 8a without the hydraulic unit) comprises a fourwalled rectangular shaped outer housing 234 having an open end 235 andreciprocably disposed with respect to a second four walled rectangularshaped inner housing 236 having an open end 237 and having closed end237a mounting member 224 and having its wall por.ions 238 extendingwithin the housing 234-. The outer housing or casing 234 is generallyrectangular in cross section and has an outer substantially closed end240 provided with a transverse horizontal slot 242 through which extenda pair of opposed longitudinally extending elements 244 of a yoke unit246, which, elements 244 at their outer ends 248 are fixed on a verticalplate or stop 250 having the vertical centrally located lug or plate 230for connection with the car frame member the other apertured ends 252 ofthe elements 244 being connected with one another by a transverse pinmeans or abutment 254 engageable with spring seat 256 of hydraulic unitmember or cylinder 260 within housing 236 which is in turn in housing234 and carries a pair of guide members 262 that ride along the outsidesurfaces of the second housing 236 which wall portions 238 are providedwith a pair of longitudinally extending slots for reciprocation of thepin 254 with respect to the housing 236. The internal housing 236 isprovided with stops 265 against which plate 266 is held by spring seat256, a plunger or piston guide shaft 268 abuts the outer end wall 240 ofthe first housing 234 inside thereof and is provided with a spring seat270 thereat and extends approximately the whole length of the housing234 and reciprocably into member 260. A compression spring 271 extendsabout both members 260 and 268 and extends the cushioning unit in thenormal position (see FIG. 15 or 19) seating against the seat 270 in thefirst housing 234 and the seat 256 in the second housing 236. Removablekeeper means 272 in the form of a pin means 274 in apertured end 235 ofhousing 234 and stops 276 mounted on housing 236 prevent the housings236 and 234 from separating from one another.

The hydraulic mechanism for the cushioning unit 8 comprises the tubularpiston rod 268 having a piston guide member 282 disposed within thetubular cylinder 260 and carrying a hydraulic fiuid containing boot 280and having piston head 284 and provided with ports 292 communicatingwith orifice 294 in the piston head 284 which orifice communicates withthe interior of the cylinder 26%) which contains a metering pin 290 tocontrol the flow of hydraulic fluid between the boot 280 and thehydraulic cylinder 260, as disclosed in the US. Patent No. 3,003,436 toW. H. Peterson granted on October 10, 1961, for absorbing the shock ofbuff forces with the contracting and extending of the cushion unit 8 asaforesaid.

When the draft or buff forces are transmitted through the side ribbonsills 16, as discussed above, the cushion unit 8 leaves its neutralposition as shown in FIGS. and 16 to solid lines as shown in FIG. 19,because of the relative movement between the bolster 14 and the car body26 causing the cushioning unit to extend, the yoke member 246 movingoutwardly of the housing 234 with the result that resilient means orspring 271 is compressed with the hydraulic mechanism absorbing theshock. When the draft or buff forces are transmitted from the bolster 14directly to the cushioning unit 8, the smaller housing 236 moves furtherinwardly into the larger housing 234 compressing the resilient means orspring 271 with the hydraulic mechanism absorbing the shock.

If the distance between the centers of the car trucks is increased, thewidth of the car must be decreased if it is to meet standard widthclearances on curves and, therefore, the width of the car well. In orderto maintain car capacity, the containers could be higher but thispresents overhead clearance problems. The trucks center to centerdistance is especially critical on railroad curves where the widthclearance of the car is most reduced and the American Association ofRailroads standards must be maintained, which is approximately a maximumof 60 feet between truck centers. Yet the container height must be keptas low as possible. This invention provides for reces sing the car bodyor having a novel car well which allows maintenance of car carryingcapacity with maximum distance between the truck centers and meeting thenecessary car width clearance and overhead clearance requirements. Themost desirable location for a car cushioning device is between thebolster or truck connection and the car body end wall structure. Theamount of space for this location is the distance between the trucksless the car container well length. It is therefore desired to have themaximum travel of the cushioning unit within the smallest pocket orspace. This invention provides for more cushion travel of the cushioningunit without having to cut down on the length of the car well.

The container means are connected to the car body and, therefore, thecontainer means support and reinforce the car body. As shown in FIG. 14,the tie down unit 206 that is pivotally mounted on the beam 101 of thecentral portion 26 of the car body 6 has its vertically extending lugsor projections 210 extending through slots 210a of the smallercontainers 42, each slot 210a being elongated longitudinally of the carbody to allow for movement of the projection 210 longitudinally of thecar but the lateral width of the slot 210a is approximately the same inlength as the lateral width of the projection 210 substantiallypreventing lateral or transverse movement of the container 42 withrespect to the side walls of the car body.

It is, therefore, seen that a novel railroad car is presented herein,wherein the car has a car body support means connecting with a car bodythrough a novel cushioning unit or return device, the car body beingslidably supported at its ends on the support means bolsters and beingguided longitudinally between flexible side ribbon elements that areconnected with the support means cross member that has ties connectingwith the draft sill carrying the cross member and the bolster, andwhereby the central position of the car body extends below the couplerline of draft to define a well area disposed between the cushioning orreturn units, and whereby the body is provided with an open top forcarrying containers of different sizes in the fore and aft end sectionsand in the well, the body being provided with means for guiding thecontainers into the body and locking the containers to the body, andwhereby the body is interlocked with the side ribbon elements, thecushioning unit being so constructed as to permit greater longitudinalextent to the well.

What is claimed is:

1. A railway car comprising:

an underframe supported by trucks,

said underframe comprising stub center sills,

ribbon sills extending between and connected to said stub center sills,

a railroad car body including a pair of laterally spaced longitudinallyextending side wall structures,

said side wall structures guiding and stabilizing said ribbon sills,

container securing means securing containers to said side wallstructures, wherein said containers, said side walls structures and saidribbon sills cooperate together to define a structure which Willwithstand the buff and draft forces transmitted to said stub centersills,

a pair of intermediate transverse bulkheads spaced longitudinally ofsaid car body between the ends of said side wall structures andconnecting with said side wall structures to define a containerreceiving well compartment extending below and above the line of couplerdraft force of the car body,

said well compartment being a substantially unobstructed containerreceiving space and having an open top extending above the coupler draftforce line and a floor below the coupler draft force line,

said well floor being provided with container support means,

a pair of end transverse wall structures, each end wall structure beingconnected with the respective ends of the side wall structures to definewith a respective intermediate bulkhead a pair of lading receiving endcompartments, one at each end of the Well compartment,

each end compartment having lading floor support means above the wellcompartment floor and approximate the line of the coupler draft force,

each side wall structure at the upper part thereof above the couplerdraft force line at the well compartment being provided with saidcontainer securing means for locking of a container stored in the wellcompartment to the side wall structure to rigidify and reinforce saidcar body for receiving car draft and buff forces,

said container securing means being provided with abutment means toprevent longitudinal movement of a container attached thereto.

2. A railway car comprising:

an underframe supported by trucks,

said underframe comprising stub center sills,

ribbon sills extending between and connected to said stub center sills,

a railroad car body including a pair of laterally spaced longitudinallyextending side wall structures,

said side wall structures guiding and stabilizing said ribbon sills,

container securing means securing containers to said side wallstructures, wherein said containers, said side wall structures and saidribbon sills cooperate together to define a structure which willwithstand the buff and draft forces transmitted to said stub centersills,

a pair of intermediate transverse bulkheads spaced longitudinally ofsaid car body between the ends of said side wall structures andconnecting with said side wall structures to define a containerreceiving well compartment extending below and above the line of couplerdraft force of the car body,

said well compartment being a substantially unobstructed containerreceiving space and having an open top extending above the coupler draftforce line and a floor below the coupler draft force line,

said well floor being provided with container support means,

each side wall structure at the upper part thereof above the couplerdraft force line at the well compartment being provided With saidcontainer securing means for locking of a container stored in the wellcompartment to the side wall structure to rigidify and reinforce saidcar body for receiving car draft and buff forces,

said container securing means being provided with abutment means toprevent longitudinal movement of a container attached thereto.

3. The invention according to claim 2, and

said container abutment means comprising a shelf portion being providedwith a generally horizontal upper container support ledge and agenerally vertical wall for limiting the longitudinal movement of anupper container supported by said horizontal ledge,

the horizontal ledge of said shelf being adapted to isolate the uppercontainer from the lower container of two doubly stacked containerswhere the lower container is stored in the Well compartment on the wellcontainer support means thereby preventing any shear forces beingdirected to the lower container.

4. The invention according to claim 2, and

said container abutment means comprising a shelf portion being providedwith a generally horizontal upper container support ledge and agenerally vertical wall means extending above and below the shelf forlimiting longitudinal shifting of an upper container supported by saidhorizontal ledge and the lower container,

the horizontal ledge of said shelf being adapted to isolate the uppercontainer from the lower container of two doubly stacked containerswhere the lower container is stored in the well compartment on the wellcontainer support means thereby preventing any shear forces beingdirected to the lower container.

5. A railway car comprising:

an underframe supported by trucks,

said underframe comprising stub center sills,

ribbon sills extending between and connected to said stub center sills,

a railroad car body including a pair of laterally spaced longitudinallyextending side wall structures,

said side wall structures guiding and stabilizing said ribbon sills,

container securing means securing containers to said side wallstructures, wherein said containers, said side wall structures and saidribbon sills cooperate together to define a structure which willwithstand the buff and draft forces transmitted to said stub centersills,

a pair of intermediate transverse bulkheads spaced longitudinally ofsaid car body between the ends of said side wall structures andconnecting with said side wall structures to define a containerreceiving well compartment extending below and above the line of couplerdraft force of the car body,

said well compartment being a substantially unobstructed containerreceiving space and having an open top extending above the coupler draftforce line and a floor below the coupler draft force line,

said well floor being provided with container support means,

each side wall structure at the upper part thereof above the couplerdraft force line at the well compartment being provided with saidcontainer securing means for locking of a container stored in the wellcompartment to the side wall structure to rigidify and reinforce saidcar body for receiving car draft and buff forces,

said container securing means being provided with abutment means toprevent longitudinal movement of a container attached thereto and,

containers stored within said well compartment and including a lowercontainer stored on said well compartment floor support means and anupper container positioned over said lower container in double stackedrelation,

and said container abutment means comprising a shelf portion beingprovided with a generally upper container support ledge and supportingsaid upper container and separating said upper container from said lowercontainer,

said container abutment means having a generally vertical wall means forlimiting longitudinal movement of said second container therebypreventing any shear forces from being directed between the upper andlower containers.

6. The invention according to claim 2, and

said container abutment means being swingable outwardly of the containerwell compartment to a position over and inwardly of said container wellcompartment for coupling container means to the car body.

7. The invention according to claim 1, and

each end wall structure having a top depending center sill supportstructure provided with means having wear surfaces for slidablyreceiving an associated underframe center sill, said center sill supportstructure being provided with force-transmitting members fortransferring the vertical component of the draft forces imparted to eachcenter sill into the car body structure.

8. The invention according to claim 2, and

said well compartment being provided with a pair of laterally spacedlongitudinally disposed ribbon sill carrying means, each comprising agenerally U- shaped guide means,

said well compartment having a pair of longitudinally extendinglaterally spaced lower beams each having downwardly facing open channelsand forming with said U-shaped guide means a ribbon sill receivingchannel for guiding a respective ribbon sill of the underframe relativeto the car body.

9. The invention according to claim 1, and

said car body side wall structures and intermediate bulkheads and endwall structures comprising a beam network structure and said containersecuring means being adapted to tie upper and lower containers placed inthe well compartment in vertically stacked relation for reinforcing saidbeam network structure.

10. A railroad car comprising:

an underframe supported by trucks,

a car body supported by said underframe,

said railroad car body comprising a pair of laterally spacedlongitudinally extending flexible side Wall structures beingsubstantially laterally spaced apart from one another at least the widthof container means to be carried therebetween, said flexible wallstructures being of a substantial height to substantially encompass theside of container means stored between each flexible wall structure,

a pair of transverse wall structures spaced longitudinally of the carand connecting with the side wall structures to define a containerreceiving compartment,

said compartment being a substantially unobstructed container receivingspace and having a container support means,

each side wall structure at the upper part thereof being provided withlaterally mounted container securing means engageable with saidcontainer means for locking the container means stored in thecompartment to each side wall structure to rigidify and reinforce thecar body and thereby prevent laterally flexing 13 movement of each sidewall structure toward and away from one another,

the container securing means being provided with laterally extendingabutment means to prevent longitudinal movement of the container meansattached thereto.

11. A railroad car comprising:

an underframe supported by trucks,

a car body supported by said underframe,

said railroad car body comprising a pair of laterally spacedlongitudinally extending side wall structures being substantiallylaterally spaced apart from one another at least the width of acontainer therebetween,

a pair of transverse wall structures spaced longitudinally of the carand connecting with the side wall structures to define a containerreceiving compartment,

said compartment being a substantially unobstructed container receivingspace and having a container support means,

each side wall structure being provided with laterally mounted containersecuring means for locking of a pair of doubly vertically stackedcontainers stored in the compartment between the side wall structures,

the container securing means having laterally extending abutment meansto prevent longitudinal movement of the container means attachedthereto,

said container abutment means being adapted to be connected to a pair oftwo vertically stacked containers and comprising a container separatorportion being provided with a generally horizontal upper container shearforce isolating ledge and a generally vertical abutment surface forlimiting the longitudinal movement of an upper container supported bythe lower container,

the horizontal ledge of said separator portion being adapted to isolateshear forces of the upper container from the lower container of the twovertically stacked containers where the lower container is stored in thecompartment on the container support means thereby preventing shearforces being directed to the lower container.

12. The invention according to claim 11, and

said shear force isolating ledge being provided with container tie meansfor tying the upper container to said side wall structure and for tyingthe lower container to said side wall structure whereby said con tainersprovide said side walls with lateral stability.

13. A railroad car comprising:

an underframe supported by trucks,

2. car body supported by said underframe,

said railroad car body comprising a pair of laterally spacedlongitudinally extending side wall structures being substantiallylaterally spaced apart from one another at least the width of acontainer therebetween,

a pair of transverse wall structures spaced longitudinally of the carand connecting with the side wall structures to define a containerreceiving compartment,

said compartment being a substantially unobstructed container receivingspace and having a container support means,

each side wall structure being provided with laterally mounted containersecuring means for locking a pair of doubly vertically stackedcontainers stores in the compartment between the side wall structures,

the container securing means having laterally extending abutment meansto prevent longitudinal movement of the container means attachedthereto,

said container abutment means being adapted to be connected to the pairof two vertically stacked containers and comprising a containerseparator portion being provided with a generally horizontal uppercontainer shear force isolating ledge and a generally vertical abutmentsurface extending above and below the separator portion for limitinglongitudinal shifting of an upper container supported by the lowercontainer,

the horizontal ledge of said separator portion being adapted to isolatethe upper container from the lower container of the two verticallystacked containers where the lower container is stored in thecompartment on the container support means thereby preventing any shearforces being directed to the lower container.

14. A railroad car comprising:

an underframe supported by trucks,

a car body supported by said underframe,

said railroad car body comprising a pair of laterally spacedlongitudinally extending side wall structures being substantiallylaterally spaced apart from one another at least the width of acontainer therebetween,

a pair of transverse wall structures spaced longitudinally of the carand connecting with the side Wall structures to define a containerreceiving compartment,

said compartment being a substantially unobstructed container receivingspace and having a container support means,

each side wall structure being provided with laterally mounted containersecuring means for locking of a pair of container means stored in thecompartment between the side wall structures,

the container securing means having laterally extending abutment meansto prevent longitudinal movement of the container means attachedthereto,

container means stored within said compartment and including a lowercontainer stored on the support means and an upper container positionedover said lower container and supported thereby in vertically stackedrelation, said container abutment means comprising a container separatorportion being provided with a generally upper container shear forceisolating ledge separating said upper container from said lowercontainer and preventing any shear forces from being directed betweenthe upper and lower containers, said container abutment means having agenerally vertical abutment surface for limiting longitudinal movementof said upper container.

15. The invention according to claim 10, and

said container abutment means being swingable outwardly of thecompartment to a position over and inwardly of the compartment forcoupling container means to the car body.

16. The invention according to claim 10, and

each side wall structure being provided with an upper horizontallylongitudinally extending chord means and a lower horizontallylongitudinally extending chord means connecting with the upper chordmeans,

said lower horizontally extending chord means carrying said containersupport means and said upper chords means carrying said laterallymounted container securing means for locking of container means storedin the compartment to each side wall structure.

17. A railroad car comprising:

an underframe supported by trucks,

a car body supported by said underframe,

said railroad car body comprising a pair of laterally spacedlongitudinally extending side wall structures being substantiallylaterally spaced apart from one another at least the width of acontainer therebetween,

a pair of transverse wall structures spaced longitudinally of the carand connecting with the side wall structures to define a containerreceiving compartment,

said compartment being a substantially unobstructed container receivingspace and having a container support means,

each side wall structure being provided with laterally mounted containersecuring means for locking of a pair of doubly vertically stackedcontainers stored in the compartment between the side wall structures,

the container securing means having laterally extending abutment meansto prevent longitudinal movement of the container means attachedthereto,

container means being stored in said compartment, said container meanscomprising a pair of containers, one being vertically stacked upon theother and each of said containers being provided with corner brackets,

said container securing means being carried by the upper portion of eachside wall structure and adapted to 16 be coupled to adjacent cornerbrackets of the upper and lower containers.

References Cited 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,051,098 8/1962 Gutridge105-368 3,128,980 4/1964 Udstad et a1. 2481 19 3,160,117 12/1964Willison et a1. 105336 10 DRAYTON E. HOFFMAN, Primary Examiner.

